A mixture of philosophy, Irishfolklore and the "battle of the sexes", it consists of six books, Book 1 – The Coming of Pan, Book 2 – The Philosopher's Journey, Book 3 – The Two Gods, Book 4 – The Philosopher's Return, Book 5 – The Policemen, Book 6 – The Thin Woman's Journey, that rotate around a philosopher and his quest to find the most beautiful woman in the world, Cáitilin Ni Murrachu, daughter of a remote mountain farm, and deliver her from the gods Pan and Aengus Óg, while himself going through a catharsis.
The Philosopher is arrested for murder after the neighbouring Leprecauns of Gort na Clocha Mora (whose crock of gold has been taken) lay information with the police that the two friends who shared the Philosopher's house have died, with the implication that they have been killed. "It is in circumstances such as these that dangerous alliances are made," wrote Stephens, "and, for the first time in history, the elemental beings invoked bourgeois assistance."
The Philosopher is then whisked away by his wife the Thin Woman of Inis Magrath (who herself belongs to the most powerful Shee of Ireland). The Philosopher and the Thin Woman of Inis Magrath encounter notable characters on their separate journeys, in his case Angus Óg, and in hers the Three Infinites.
The Crock of Gold demonstrates Stephens' eye for beautiful detail. For example, an encounter between a donkey and a spider is described in the following way:
"Does anybody ever kick you in the nose?" said the ass to him.
"Ay does there," said the spider; "you and your like that are always walking on me, or lying down on me, or running over me with the wheels of a cart." "Well, why don't you stay on the wall?" said the ass. "Sure, my wife is there," replied the spider. "What's the harm in that?" said the ass. "She'd eat me," said the spider, "and, anyhow, the competition on the wall is dreadful, and the flies are getting wiser and timider every season. Have you got a wife yourself, now?" "I have not," said the ass; "I wish I had." "You like your wife for the first while," said the spider, "and after that you hate her." "If I had the first while I'd chance the second while," replied the ass. "It's bachelor's talk," said the spider; "all the same, we can't keep away from them," and so saying he began to move all his legs at once in the direction of the wall. "You can only die once," said he.
A later edition, published by the Macmillan Company in 1922 was issued with fanciful drawings by American artist Wilfred Jones (Illustrator, 1888 - 1968). A 1926 edition featured illustrations by Thomas Mackenzie (illustrator). Arthur Rackham was to have illustrated the book, but died in 1939 before he could.[1]
Dave Langford reviewed The Crock of Gold for White Dwarf #84, and stated that "Bag this for your shelf of fantasy classics: it may go out of print for further decades."[2]
ReviewsEdit
Review by Joseph H. Crawford, Jr. and James J. Donahue and Donald M. Grant (1953) in '333': A Bibliography of the Science-Fantasy Novel
Review by Everett F. Bleiler (1983) in The Guide to Supernatural Fiction (Pages 455 - 723)[3]
crock, gold, novel, other, uses, crock, gold, crock, gold, comic, novel, written, irish, author, james, stephens, first, published, 1912, contents, summary, reception, reviews, references, external, linkssummary, edita, mixture, philosophy, irish, folklore, ba. For other uses see Crock of Gold The Crock of Gold is a comic novel written by Irish author James Stephens first published in 1912 Contents 1 Summary 2 Reception 3 Reviews 4 References 5 External linksSummary EditA mixture of philosophy Irish folklore and the battle of the sexes it consists of six books Book 1 The Coming of Pan Book 2 The Philosopher s Journey Book 3 The Two Gods Book 4 The Philosopher s Return Book 5 The Policemen Book 6 The Thin Woman s Journey that rotate around a philosopher and his quest to find the most beautiful woman in the world Caitilin Ni Murrachu daughter of a remote mountain farm and deliver her from the gods Pan and Aengus og while himself going through a catharsis The Philosopher is arrested for murder after the neighbouring Leprecauns of Gort na Clocha Mora whose crock of gold has been taken lay information with the police that the two friends who shared the Philosopher s house have died with the implication that they have been killed It is in circumstances such as these that dangerous alliances are made wrote Stephens and for the first time in history the elemental beings invoked bourgeois assistance The Philosopher is then whisked away by his wife the Thin Woman of Inis Magrath who herself belongs to the most powerful Shee of Ireland The Philosopher and the Thin Woman of Inis Magrath encounter notable characters on their separate journeys in his case Angus og and in hers the Three Infinites The Crock of Gold demonstrates Stephens eye for beautiful detail For example an encounter between a donkey and a spider is described in the following way Does anybody ever kick you in the nose said the ass to him Ay does there said the spider you and your like that are always walking on me or lying down on me or running over me with the wheels of a cart Well why don t you stay on the wall said the ass Sure my wife is there replied the spider What s the harm in that said the ass She d eat me said the spider and anyhow the competition on the wall is dreadful and the flies are getting wiser and timider every season Have you got a wife yourself now I have not said the ass I wish I had You like your wife for the first while said the spider and after that you hate her If I had the first while I d chance the second while replied the ass It s bachelor s talk said the spider all the same we can t keep away from them and so saying he began to move all his legs at once in the direction of the wall You can only die once said he A later edition published by the Macmillan Company in 1922 was issued with fanciful drawings by American artist Wilfred Jones Illustrator 1888 1968 A 1926 edition featured illustrations by Thomas Mackenzie illustrator Arthur Rackham was to have illustrated the book but died in 1939 before he could 1 Some editions have a foreword by Walter de la Mare Reception EditDave Langford reviewed The Crock of Gold for White Dwarf 84 and stated that Bag this for your shelf of fantasy classics it may go out of print for further decades 2 Reviews EditReview by Joseph H Crawford Jr and James J Donahue and Donald M Grant 1953 in 333 A Bibliography of the Science Fantasy Novel Review by Everett F Bleiler 1983 in The Guide to Supernatural Fiction Pages 455 723 3 References Edit Biography Central Michigan University Langford Dave December 1986 Critical Mass White Dwarf No 84 Games Workshop p 8 https www isfdb org cgi bin title cgi 1249229External links EditThe Crock of Gold at Standard Ebooks The Crock of Gold in its 1912 edition downloadable from the Internet Archive nbsp The Crock of Gold public domain audiobook at LibriVox The Crock of Gold by James Stephens at Project Gutenberg Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Crock of Gold novel amp oldid 1181080091, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
